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Diggester (2492316) writes "In order to investigate why fast food burgers turn out this way, the managing deirector of a blog ‘Serious Eats’ conducted an experiment. A total of five different hypotheses helped him embark on this journey. From high salt content to low moisture content and lack of air to lack of mold spores, he decided to put them all to test.It’s a well known fact that burgers are cooked when air and mold spores are present but they are lost once it has been cooked. With two hypotheses failing to relate, he focused on the remaining three. Despite the ingredients in McDonald’s bun being the same as those bought at any other store along with patties purely comprising beef, the cook tested the burgers for his satisfaction. It’s worth noting that the possibility of inhibiting any mold is eliminated in the absence of preservatives."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "Did you know that USB Drives are embedded in walls, buildings and curbs in Big Apple? Well, We didn’t. We wonder how this piece of information was always left out in all the major TV shows which either bragged about its modern buildings or its beauty. Let us tell you why USB Drives are embedded in the city walls. Here is how they looks like:

Aram Bartholl came up with this idea for an art project called “Dead Drops” in order to create an anonymous, offline file-sharing network in public space. These USB drives are completely public and anyone can plug in their devices to drop or find files. Each ‘Dead Drop’ USB is empty except for a.txt file which explains the project."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "The wretched plague of diabetes has wrought death upon this earth for many decades now and patients wrestle with the disease every day of their lives. It may sound funny to many that someone can’t eat cake or pizza or chocolate for the rest of their lives without worrying about the immediate consequences but it is hell when you can’t enjoy the bounties laid out before you. Thus endeth the sermon; on to the story. Scientists from the University of California, San Diego have invented a temporary tattoo that can read glucose levels in the blood."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "A new study suggests that men who post a lot of selfies online score higher, but still healthy, levels of narcissism and psychopathy compared to their peers — but that’s not necessarily a bad thing.

The team, led by communications researcher Jesse Fox, looked at the social media behaviour of 800 men in the US aged between 18 and 40 — in particular, they examined how many selfies they take, and how long they spend editing them.

They also asked the men to fill out a questionnaire that measured anti-social behaviours, such as narcissism, psychopathy, and self-objectification, which measures how much people prioritise their appearance."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "YouTube user Kenneth Brandon (RedKB) is a self-proclaimed fan of twisty puzzles, and set out to solve this massive world-record-holding Rubik's Cube. It took him around seven and a half hours over the course of five days.

"The way you solve a 17 by 17 is just like you would a 7 by 7, or a 5 by 5," Brandon says in the video. "If you can solve one of those then the 17 by 17 isn't that hard, but it is very, very tedious.""Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "Researchers at Erciyes University in Kayseri, Turkey have just completed a yearlong study that looked at the correlation between body mass index (BMI) and male sexual performance. Their findings: Overweight men with obvious bellies lasted an astounding five minutes — five minutes! — longer in the sack than their thinner brethren.

A total of 200 men were surveyed. Researchers ultimately found that men with a higher BMI (i.e. bellies) lasted an average of 7.3 minutes in bed. The slimmer of the group barely lasted two minutes, and were more likely to suffer from premature ejaculation."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "The weight of water limits how much can be brought on a long bike ride. There isn’t always an option to stop and fill up from a clean stream or drinking fountain, but water could be obtained from a different source: the air. Austrian industrial design student Kristof Retezár has created Fontus: a prototype of a water bottle system that condenses humid air into clean, drinkable water. His design made him a finalist for the 2014 James Dyson Award."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "You have heard ever since you were a child that the consumption of milk is close to essential for healthy bones and teeth. Two to three glasses a day are recommended by doctors, nutritionists, P.E. teachers and parents (especially your mom) and you’ve always been comfortable knowing that a glass of milk can’t hurt you. Well a study published in the British Medical Journal disagrees with this ancient tradition."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "Physician Sangeeta Bhatia has been busy in designing a rather affordable medical test that can check for the presence of cancer. Rather than putting you through trouble, this test merely requires you to ingest a spoonful of yoghurt that contains synthetic nanoparticles and then submit a sample of urine. I don’t know about you but personally, that is definitely the one test I would pick."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "Folks at 4Chan seem to have successfully trolled plenty of Apple iPhone owners. Some witty people spread the rumour that the new iPhone can now be charged in any microwave courtesy of the new and improved iOS 8. They decided to name this ‘hot’ feature the Apple Wave which was said to be a super-fast way of charging the device. It’s obvious how cleanly they went about advertising it the ‘Apple’ way."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "DON'T mind the gap. A woman has reached the age of 24 without anyone realising she was missing a large part of her brain. The case highlights just how adaptable the organ is.

The discovery was made when the woman was admitted to the Chinese PLA General Hospital of Jinan Military Area Command in Shandong Province complaining of dizziness and nausea. She told doctors she'd had problems walking steadily for most of her life, and her mother reported that she hadn't walked until she was 7 and that her speech only became intelligible at the age of 6."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "new heart medication has been shown to cut instances of heart failure mortality by a fifth, and is expected to be on the market as early as next year.

Named LCZ696, the new drug is still in the trial phase, but has been shown to dramatically reduce cardiovascular deaths and the risk of hospitalisation for people with chronic heart failure.The drug is being developed by Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis, and was recently put to the test in the largest trial ever undertaken in heart failure, involving more than 8,400 patients. Compared to an existing heart drug, called enalapril, LCZ696’s effects were so significant and so overwhelmingly positive throughout this trial, a team of independent investigators ended it early. This is the first time in 25 years that a new drug has been proven to be more effective than existing heart medications."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "The race for faster and more furious just got big in the imaging and photography department. Japanese researchers have recently designed a motion picture camera which is capable of capturing 4.4 trillion frames per second. That’s right; it makes this snapper the fastest the world over. This technique that is known to be STAMP (sequentially timed all-optical mapping photography) is able to boast 450×450 pixels. The work by the Japanese researchers has been so popular that the Nature Photonics has published it."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "It seems like the fast food industry will soon face serious disruption at the hands of mechanization. Momentum Machines has invented a device that makes burgers. Trouble is that these devices are designed to replace workers rather than assisting them in their jobs. These burger bots are far from being humanoid, mind you. It’s a complete assembly line with ingredients put in various containers. Veggies do not have to be prepared before they are moved along; the burger bot takes care of it all."Link to Original Source

Diggester (2492316) writes "Have you ever wondered what might happen to your body in space without a spacesuit? Is it really as dramatic as the movies make it out to be? Would you literally EXPLODE? Could you survive?

On Earth, we live a pretty cozy existence thanks to our protective atmosphere. It shields us from the Sun’s harmful UV rays, regulates temperatures and also maintains a nice atmospheric pressure. The vacuum of space, however, is much more hostile. Without this lovely thick atmospheric blanket, you’re exposed to all sorts of things."Link to Original Source